Norfolk residents will start having access to second internet provider in the spring
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By late spring of 2022, some Norfolk residents are expected to have a second option for an internet service provider.
MetroNet, the new provider coming to Norfolk to challenge Cox, hasn’t revealed which areas of the city will get access to their internet first. But whichever neighborhoods are first should get a construction notice in the mail in October, according to Kris Smith, the government affairs representative for MetroNet.
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Smith said the company is on track to start laying its fiber cables in mid-December. Bringing service to all of Norfolk would likely take three or four years, company spokesperson Katie Custer said.
Smith said laying the fiber cables will happen in easements and city right of way, meaning that crews will not need to work on any private property. She said MetroNet will post signs and leave flyers for residents to let them know that construction crews will be coming to their neighborhood, along with sending notice by mail.
MetroNet, founded in 2005, is based in Indiana and mostly serves Midwestern states. The Norfolk network will provide the fastest commercially available internet speeds to all residents and businesses in the city, according to MetroNet. The company has not shared prices for services, which include landline telephone connection and cable television.
Cox’s status as the sole internet provider in Norfolk has long been a source of complaints for residents and even some city officials.
Councilman Tommy Smigiel, who represents the Ocean View area, complained at a 2016 council meeting about what he called the “out of control” price of Cox’s service and said “because there is no competition, I think they know they can get away with this.”
In response to consistent complaints about a lack of internet competition, the city posted information on its website and the Pilot has written an explanation of the issue. Verizon — Cox’s main cable and internet competitor elsewhere in Hampton Roads — has not given clear reasons for not expanding its Fios service into Norfolk.
Plans for Norfolk are not yet posted, but residents can visit construction.metronetinc.com to check when construction may come to them and when they may be able to connect.
Josh Reyes, 757-298-5823, joreyes@dailypress.com
